The rain came to an end sometime during the night, leaving the dark pre-dawn to which Tarrin emerged misty, a bit unseasonably cold, and overcast. Water still clung to the grass, made the outside of their tent wet to the touch. The cloudy skies made it very dark, just enough light penetrating the clouds to allow him to see in shades of slightly murky gray as he looked out over the empty field. The lights of the fires of the soldiers were behind them, a good longspan distant, too far to grant light to their small encampment. He looked to the other tent erected there, a tent that Kimmie and Thean were sharing, and he could hear and see from the faint spot of light inside that they were up and getting ready. They had lit a candle or some other small light in there, and it cast shadows against the side of the tent.
They were leaving today. He already knew what he was going to do, and how he wanted to go about doing it, so that wasn't something concerning him. He was just worried how the others were going to take it. He wasn't sure about that, outside of Jasana's youthful excitement about the prospect of flying through the air. That, and his mate's already voiced reluctance to it.
Jesmind. It was curious. He thought about that as he waited for her to finish dressing Jasana, waited for Thean and Kimmie to get ready. It was strange that the daughter of Triana, who was one of the strongest Druids alive, was so… against magic. It wasn't the idea of flying that bothered her, it was the idea of doing it on the back of a matgical creature. She hated him using his Druidic powers, considering it to be cheating. She had hated the Tower, and seemed to have a pretty universal disdain for magic and all things magical. She had a pretty formidable barrier to overcome, now that he thought of it. Her mother was a magician, her daughter was a magician, and her current mate was a magician. She was surrounded by magic, and yet she seemed to have an aversion to it. He wondered why. He could understand her distrust of Sorcerers, because of what they did to her. But why not be accustomed to, even like, Druidic magic?
That, he realized, was a question to ask Triana. She was Jesmind's mother, after all, and she knew Jesmind alot better than he did. She would know the answer to that question.
Jasana announced her presence by grabbing the end of his tail and holding fast to it, as she tended to do. He wasn't quite sure why she did that. She did it to both him and Jesmind, almost like telling them where she was, or that she was there. Having that little paw on his tail was an eerie sensation, because he didn't really like people grabbing his tail. But he'd come to learn to like it after being around her. It told him that his daughter was with him, and that always made him happy. "Morning, cub," he told her without turning around. "Did you sleep well?"
"Umm," she hummed in answer, though her spirit wasn't quite awake yet. Jasana was not an early riser. "Except you and mama woke me up," she accused.
Tarrin didn't answer that. "Blame your mother," he finally told her.
"I did," she replied. "She promised not to be so loud next time."
"Well, that's good," he said delicately. Jasana wasn't a human girl. Her mother had already explained all sorts of things to her that a human girl wouldn't learn for a long time. Sex among the Were-cats didn't hold the same social stigma that it did among humans. That was why Jesmind had been willing to engage him with Jasana in the same tent. He'd usually have been resistant, but trying to fend off a frisky Jesmind was about as easy as turning a mountain inside out with a shovel and a pick. A pair of Were-cats wouldn't just mate in a public city street, nor would they in a social gathering; they did have some human moral traits. But mating in the presence of an intimate family member wasn't considered such a big deal, so long as they were discreet about it. Jesmind usually was discreet… except when she got-he steered his thoughts away from that.
It just showed him again how little he really knew his mate. He didn't know what her favorite foods were, or what kind of literature she liked, or even why she didn't seem to like magic. Jesmind had always been something of a fixture in his life, but she had always been… mysterious. He had gotten used to thinking of her as a mystery, and to his own discredit, hadn't bothered to try to solve her. He knew some things about her. That she was willful, stubborn, independent, direct, and bold. But she was also an exquisitely tender, loving, compassionate, caring person with those around which she felt comfortable. He understood her outward personality, could predict or deflect impending explosions of temper, and could calm her down when needful, but he still hadn't come to learn about the woman hiding within the Were-cat. It was her inner personality, the true tides of emotion that drove her, that he did not yet know or understand. Since they'd been together, he'd had his mind so occupied by other things, he had simply accepted her presence without taxing himself by her too much. That was his own mistake, and he was ready to admit it. She was more than just Jesmind, or the woman he slept with. She was his mate, and that implied certain responsibilities he had towards her, much more than if she were nothing but a single night's tryst.
She stepped out of the tent and stood beside him, putting a paw on his shoulder. He reached up absently and patted her paw, then put his arm around her waist. That seemed to surprise her, tensing up for just a moment before leaning in against him. "Morning," he told her in pleasant tones, gripping her waist gently. "Sleep well?"
"You should know," she replied with a glance and mischevious little smile.
"Keep that happy mood, mate," he told her. "We're going to be doing some unusual travelling today."
"Don't remind me," she grunted.
"It won't be so bad. I think you may actually like it."
"I hope so," she said.
"Trust me. It's a, wonderful feeling, looking down on the land below," he said in a dreamy kind of way. "You feel so free, Jesmind. Like the entire world is open to you."
"I feel that way already," she shrugged.
"I guess I'm not as lucky as you, then."
"Can we go now, papa? Can we can we can we can we?" Jasana asked, seeming to wake up and get to be her usual bubbly, energetic self.
"As soon as a couple of certain someones stop playing around and get their tails out here!" Tarrin said in a loud voice.
"I'm coming, don't get your tail in a knot!" Kimmie shouted back in reply, coming out of the tent while still in the act of putting her shirt on. Thean came out just behind her, shouldering the pack that he carried with him everywhere. Thean was a very transitory Were-cat male, having no permanent den or territory. He spent his life on the road, travelling from city to city and place to place. He had few possessions, and those that he did have were carried with him in that battered old backpack. Thean was much different from some Were-cat males, like Laren, who had a very well established territory and rarely left it.
"Did she wear you out, you old gray rascal?" Jesmind asked with a smile, looking at the gray-furred male as the pair joined them.
"Oh, yes, she did," Thean grinned at her. "We stayed up til nearly midnight debating the role of Arcane magic in the downfall of the Torian empire, and its effects in modern politics. Kimmie has some very insightful ideas. It was a very productive night." He looked at the smaller female. "I don't often get the chance to talk about magic with an actual Wizard. Since Kimmie also happens to be one of us, it makes it easier, since she understands what I'm asking after."
"You knew I studied magic, Thean. All you had to do was come find me and talk."
"I know, but our paths never seemed to cross, Kimmie," Thean sighed. "It's not easy for two Were-cats to meet when both of them are always moving around."
"True," she agreed. "Alright, we're packed and ready, Tarrin. What now?"
"Now it's my turn," he said. "Are we ready to go, Jesmind?"
Jesmind pointed at a large pack laying near her feet, which contained the totality of the scant possessions that they had brought along. Tarrin Conjured everything else they needed.
"Alright then," he said, letting go of her and stepping away from them. But then he stopped, and turned and looked back at them. "Jasana," he called. "Come here, cub."
Jasana looked up at him in curiosity, then wandered over as Jesmind scowled deeply in his direction. Almost as if she realized what he was about to do.
Jasana padded over to him and looked up at him with an intent expression. He dropped down into a squat and looked down at his cub so she didn't have to crane her neck so severely to look up at him. He reached down and brushed her strawberry blond hair from her face as the wind began to pull at it, and she reached out and took hold of his paw in both of hers. She too seemed to sense that he was about to tell her something important. He looked down into those luminous eyes, so large on her small face, and fell in love with his little daughter all over again.
"Are you going to show me how to do magic, papa?" she asked with eager eyes.
He smiled. "That's right, cub. What I've seen the last couple of days has shown me that if I don't, you're going to start doing it whether I teach you or not. So it's better to show you what you're doing now, instead of having you try to flounder around and make mistakes that might get someone hurt." He tapped her on her nose, which always made her giggle. "Now then, the first thing you need to do is learn not to be afraid of it," he told her. "There's alot of things you're going to be able to do, and some of them may seem scary right now."
"Like the dark place."
"Like the dark place," he agreed. "Well, what you have to remember is that the shining lady is everywhere in the magic. She's in the magic, and she's also in the dark place. She's everywhere, and if you trust her and listen to her, she's going to help make sure that you don't make a mistake that could get you hurt. Alright?"
"Umm."
"Now, I'm not going to just show you what to do and set you loose, cub. It doesn't work that way. All I want you to do right now is watch. Watch and feel what I'm doing. Feel how I do things, but don't feel around at how the magic acts towards me. My magic is alot different from yours right now, and it's not going to act the same way towards you that it does towards me."
"I saw that already."
"Good. I'm not ready to start teaching you how to throw spells quite yet, because you need to learn alot more about the magic and how it works before I let you, alright?"
She looked a bit disappointed. "Yes, papa," she sighed.
"Alright then. Now, watch. Watch, listen, and feel. And stay out of it, cub. Don't reach out to me while I'm doing this. You'll distract me."
"Yes, papa."
Tarrin stood up and turned his back to his daughter, who grabbed hold of his leg and looked up at him.
Pushing her presence out of his mind, he reached out and made a connection to the Weave. It resisted, as it always did, but the strength of his will and his power overwhelmed its objections. The link formed between them, and that allowed the power of High Sorcery to flow into him. His paws limned over in Magelight as the power infused him, built up inside him, and he opened himself up completely to it to allow himself to draw in what he needed quickly. Once he had gathered up what he considered to be a suitable amount of magical power to perform the task at hand, he tapered off the influx and then began his work.
He had two things to do. The first he directed back behind him, weaving the flows into the large tent that had served him for the days he was here. He wove together a weave of Earth and Divine energies, and sent it down into the ground. He had thought about doing this last night, and it seemed relatively simple. The weave flowed through the earth, spreading out for longspans in every direction, and every time it touched gold, it triggered a response that caused it to surround the gold, infuse it with magical power, and then draw it back to the center of the weave's energy. That happened to be the tent. It would have taken a long time, if there had not been a surprising amount of gold in the immediate vicinity. He never knew that the northwestern corner of Sulasia was so rich in gold, but the Skydancer mountains, which were famous for heavy deposits of metals of all kinds, were probably the reason for that. Tarrin drained the entire surrounding land of every scrap of gold it possessed, causing it to draw up from the earth inside the tent, where it couldn't be seen. When he was done, the tent was ankle-deep to him-which made it shin-deep for a human-in small gold nuggets of every imaginable shape, enough money for Arren to rebuild Torrian and have plenty left over.
Then he turned his attention back to the outside, to in front of him, and began the process to summon the Elemental. A chaotic jumble of flows of Air and Divine power, with token flows of the other seven Spheres to grant the weave the power of High Sorcery. Tarrin charged the weave with a tremendous amount of extra energy, for that would be the magical power the Elemental would use to perform its tasks once it arrived, and he wanted to make sure that it had everything it needed to do what it would need to do. He didn't want it disrupting on them while they were all high in the air. The weave snapped taut when Tarrin pulled at it, suddenly pulling it into its proper alignment, and then he released it to do its work.
This time, now that he had done it before, he could distinctly feel what it was doing. He felt a section of the weave penetrate into something, something beyond his description, and then it held open that breach between where he was and wherever the other side of the breach was. He sensed about that breach, feeling that whatever it was on the other side was decidedly alien, something beyond his world. He felt the weave shudder slightly, and he realized that the animating force that lived on the other side of that breach had been summoned forth. It flowed in from the otherworld and filled the shell of the weave he had constructed before him, an invisible mass of coherent air with defined limits but no set physical form. The weave suddenly shimmered, and then the control of it was pulled away from him as the animating force of the Elemental settled into the mortal form Tarrin had created for it with his Sorcery. He felt a tenuous link form between him and the Elemental, a mental connection that was just light enough to prevent the Cat from trying to reject it, for it was not an invasive form of communion, as Circling was. It was simply a sort of window open between them, a window that allowed it to hear certain thoughts that he wanted it to hear.
"Greetings," Tarrin called audibly. "My name is Tarrin. I'm sorry to draw you out like this, but we need your help. Would you be so kind as to manifest for the ones who can't see you?" he asked politely. He'd learned from the Fire Elemental that treating an Elemental with respect and consideration made it a much more pleasant travelling companion. They weren't very smart, but they were sentient creatures, and they had pride.
Thean and Kimmie gasped when an amorphous mass of what looked like misty vapor appeared in front of Tarrin and Jasana. It was massive, nearly forty spans across, but its boundaries shifted randomly like a cloud being pushed by a stiff wind. Tarrin looked at Jesmind, but her expression had turned decidedly stony.
"By the Mother's milk!" Thean exclaimed. "What is that, Tarrin?"
"This," he said, looking back at Thean, "is an Elemental. An Air Elemental, to be precise."
"It's… big," Kimmie said, looking at it nervously.
"It won't hurt you, Kimmie. The Elemental understands our need, and it's agreed to help us. It wouldn't be here if it wasn't here of its own will."
"Will? It's sentient?" Thean asked.
"Very," Tarrin replied. "What you see before you is a shell of magic that I created for it, so it could enter our world and animate the shell. The way it works is that the magic of the weave goes to where the Elementals live and more or less calls out, looking for an Elemental willing to serve. This one responded. And next time I summon an Air Elemental, it will be this Elemental. Once summoned, an Elemental will always respond to the same Sorcerer who first summoned it. So it behooves us to treat them properly," he smiled. "If I mistreat the Elemental, it's going to be rightly mad at me the next time I summon it to help me."
"Very wise," Thean chuckled. "What if it dies?"
"Nothing on Sennadar can hurt it, Thean," Tarrin said mildly. "The worst it can do is disrupt the magical matrix the Elemental animates. If the Elemental is attacked and destroyed, it only destroys the shell I've created. The animating force will go back to where it came from unharmed. That's why Sorcerers often summoned Elementals to fight for them back in the old days," he reasoned. "Elementals don't have any compunction about attacking at a Sorcerer's command, because they know that they can't really be hurt. If could really get hurt, I'd never ask it to do something like that."
The Elemental, which could understand everything they all said, seemed to warm considerably to Tarrin at that remark. It was their first meeting, after all, and the Elemental wanted to get a good sense of the Sorcerer it had opted to serve.
"Anyway, we're wasting time. The Elemental is going to carry us to Suld."
"How is it going to carry us?" Jesmind asked curiously, looking up at it.
"For it, it'll be easy," Tarrin told her. "It's going to carry us inside it. We'll simply float along as it flies to Suld."
"Won't we suffocate?" Kimmie asked.
"It's made of air, Kimmie," Tarrin chided her. "We won't suffocate."
"Oh. Alright then, Tarrin, what do we do?" Kimmie asked.
"All of you, come over here," Tarrin waved with a paw. He reached down and picked up Jasana, who was staring up at the Elemental with wonder in her eyes, and the others came up beside him, all three holding a pack. "Alright now, we're ready," he told the Elemental. "For all our sakes, please be gentle. None of us has done this before."
That seemed to amuse the Elemental, whom, he realized, had a capricious nature much like Sarraya.
Jesmind grabbed hold of his free paw, and he squeezed it reassuringly as the misty nature of the Elemental dissolved back into invisibility, and then Tarrin felt it move. The air suddenly swirled around them, like wind, and then it simply pulled at them. It was a gentle force, delicate and almost tickling, but Tarrin felt the Elemental envelop the five of them and lift them off the ground. He could still feel gravity pulling at him from below, but it was as if the air itself supported him in a gentle, comforting, almost feathery embrace. Kimmie gasped as Tarrin laughed, and the grip on his paw from his mate suddenly became crushing as the ground suddenly whisked away from them with such speed that it made Tarrin flinch.
"Ohhhhhhhh, MYYYYY GOOOOOOODS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Jesmind screamed as the Elemental whisked them high into the sky in a matter of a heartbeat, then turned and flew towards Suld, just south of west, at a speed that almost seemed to be impossible. The ground literally blurred beneath them as the Elemental accelerated to a speed that the Fire Elemental could never hope to achieve even as it continued to ascend, the speed of the winds at the center of a hurricane or tornado, speed that seemed almost unreal. But the air did not move, and they all floated within the center of the Elemental as if they were standing in a meadow on a warm, sunny spring morning, giving it a surreal quality. As fast as they were obviously going, there should have been wind whipping at them, but there was not, because they were carried safely within the form of the Elemental. The dark clouds got closer and closer to them, and even Tarrin flinched as the Elemental barrelled right into them. None of them had ever been so close to the clouds before, and though they all knew that clouds were just fog high in the sky, it still gave all of them a moment of anxiety. After all, they didn't absolutely know if clouds were solid or not. They became surrounded by dark, murky gray mists, like the thickest fog, a murky gray that became progressively lighter and lighter as the moments passsed. And then they burst out from the cloud into a clear sky, a sky stained with the rosy hues of sunrise, and the clouds to the east were a similar pink as the sun climbed over them. The visage below was one of wispy gray continuity, the tops of the heavy clouds climbing out from the mass in little knobs and protrusions and waves. The tops of the clouds were nowhere near as flat and featureless as the bottoms of them.
"It's beautiful!" Kimmie exclaimed in wonder, looking down as the Elemental seemed to level off, watching the gray cloudscape go by.
"Are you alright, Jesmind?" Tarrin asked as Jasana laughed and struggled out of her father's arm. She floated freely beside him as Jesmind replaced her in his embrace, holding onto him tightly, even wrapping her tail around his leg. He chuckled and stroked her back comfortingly. "It's alright," he told her softly. "Look down. Look at how much beauty's been hidden from us, just because we couldn't see it before."
She looked into his eyes with pure anxiety in them, then did as he suggested. She turned in his grip so her back was up against him, something solid for reassurance, and then she looked down. She seemed captivated at the sight of it, at the sight of the cloudtops rolling by a thousand spans beneath them.
He held her from behind, put his chin on her shoulder, and felt her body seem to relax in his arms as she watched the clouds roll by beneath them. He realized that it wasn't the flying, or the heights, that had bothered her. Jesmind was a very old Were-cat. Over five hundred years old. It was the newness of it that had upset her. She was old, set in her ways, seemingly already experienced most of what life had to offer. When she came across something totally new, totally unexpected, it initially frightened her. But it didn't make her run away from it, either. It frightened her, but she would still come to understand it. And when she did, it didn't frighten her anymore. Jesmind was not one to hide from her fears. She faced them, and in in the facing of them she became a wiser, stronger person. It made him very proud of her, for some strange reason.
Maybe saying it was fear was the wrong choice of words. Jesmind didn't fear new things, she simply approached them a bit more cautiously than others might. But in certain cases, like flying for the first time, something that completely went against the natural order of things, saying it was fear was justified.
"Oh, mama, we have to do this again!" Jasana giggled as she held out her arms and fanned them, imitating a bird's flight. "I love this!"
"How you doing, Thean?" Tarrin asked over his shoulder, where Thean and Kimmie floated along with them.
"I'm doing, lad," Thean said in a shaky voice. "Just give me a minute here. This is new for me, you know."
"Don't be afraid, Thean," Tarrin assured him. "The Elemental won't drop you. It's amused that you're afraid, but it would never try to terrorize you."
"I guess it has reason to think it's funny that something is afraid of flying," Thean chuckled ruefully. "After all, it can fly, can't it?"
"Ariana seems to think the same way," Tarrin agreed with a smile. "She can't fathom why anyone would possibly be afraid of heights."
"How fast are we going, Tarrin?" Kimmie asked.
"Hmm, I'm not sure. Let me ask." He communicated his query to the Elemental, but got back a response that was decidedly unquantified. "I don't think the Elemental can understand our concepts of numbers and distances, Kimmie," Tarrin said. "It just told me that it's moving at a cyclone's speed. What that means is anyone's guess."
"They call hurricanes cyclones in Sharadar, and some people call tornados cyclones too," Kimmie told him. "So we're moving pretty damn fast." She looked down. "If I could see the ground, I could measure some landmarks and get a number for us."
"Why is it important?"
"Judging by how fast those clouds are moving, I'd say that we might get to Suld alot earlier than tomorrow," she told him.
"I didn't think of that," he mused, feeling Jesmind's body completely relax. "Alright now, my mate?" he asked gently, squeezing her about the middle.
"I think so," she replied. "It's just new for me, my mate. I'll get over it."
"If it bothers you, you can always hold on to me," he offered.
She looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes a mystery. Then she smiled and patted his paws. "So, it takes me getting scared out of my wits for my mate to show me any affection out of bed," she teased in a playful tone.
"My affection for my mate should have been realized a long time ago," he said, both a quip at her and an admission to himself.
That seemed to confuse her. She looked at him, looked away, then looked at him again, and then she looked away again. She leaned against him, content to let him hold her, snuggling down into his embrace. "Well, at least this is a damn easier way to travel than running," she admitted. "Even if it is weird."
He held her gently, reflective. His affection for his mate did indeed go deep, and it had been there for a very long time. He had to admit, she had had him the moment she had looked up at him with those smoldering eyes back in that cramped den in the wilderness of Sulasia, the first time she had kissed him. She had taken him for mate that morning, and her warmth, her giving of herself, her exquisite tenderness, they had sealed her place in his heart. Jesmind had been his first love, and there was still enough human in him for that to never go away. She would chide him for confusing physical pleasure with affairs of the heart, but she didn't understand the nature of the human about such things. The human could not experience the powerful intimacy they had shared and not been moved by it. Jesmind could have been rough with him, the way Mist had been at first, or been domineering or self-gratifying, but she had not. It had not simply been physical to Tarrin, and he was pretty sure that it hadn't simply been physical for Jesmind either.
She was his first love. And she still was.
He was surprised that it took him so long to understand that. But he'd been angry with her- very angry-and he'd had so much on his mind. She'd simply been there, not being too obtrusive in his life at first, but slowly and methodically worming her way back into his good graces. And when she got there, she showed him everything that had been missing from his life. She made life worth living for him again, gave him something solid to long for when he left her to continue on his quest. She had given him a daughter, given him a home, and had given him a life. She had never given up on him, even after she left him. Even then, she did everything with an eye on the day that he would come back to her, the day he would be hers once again.
She loved him. Kimmie was so right about that. Just hearing Kimmie say it hadn't impacted him as much as realizing it for himself. Jesmind loved him, loved him just like a human woman would love a human man, just like Kimmie said. Jesmind wanted something beyond a simple mating, she wanted something that would last with him. And seeing how her mother and Thean were, she had decided to try that. To create something between them that would draw him back to her again and again after they parted, an endless cycle of parting, reunion, and enjoying it as long as possible before their Were-cat natures drove them apart. He knew that they could never be together all the time like humans, because the nature of the Were-cat would eventually overpower their desire to remain together. And when that happened, they would have to separate for a while, until they spent enough time apart that they were ready to return to one another again.
He closed his eyes and inhaled her scent, felt her in his arms. This was where he wanted to be. This was where he belonged, and it was where he would return when everything was said and done. Jesmind was a part of his life now, a part that could never be replaced. Yes, he had some affection for Mist, and he'd started to feel some interest in Kimmie, but they would never be more than shadows of Jesmind, and would never hold the same place in his heart that she did. And he had the feeling that they both already knew that.
"You're awfully snuggly, my mate," Jesmind told him with an almost childish giggle. "What's gotten into you? And how do I make it happen more often?"
He lifted his head so he could whisper into her cat-ear, which turned towards the sound of his voice. "Have I ever told you, Jesmind, that I love you?" he asked her in a faint whisper.
He could not have produced a more profound reaction in her if he'd have set her hair on fire. He felt her entire body quiver at the sound of those words, and then she seemed to tense, and then to completely relax against him. Then she whirled in his arms so fast he didn't realize it, and kissed him with a ferocity that told him just what she thought about what he said to her.
Strange. It took seeing his mate in a moment of weakness to appreciate exactly what he felt for her, and come to truly understand how she felt about him. He thought about that in the scant moments he was coherent enough to think; Jesmind was the best kisser he'd ever had the pleasure to experience, and trying to form logical thoughts while being branded by her kiss was no mean feat.
Jesmind pulled away and gazed deeply into his eyes, her heart behind hers. "I love you, Tarrin," she told him in a voice charged with emotion. "I have since the day I first saw you." And then she kissed him again with even more fervor, backing up her words in a way that proved beyond any means that she meant every word she said.
Jasana wiped at a little tear in her eyes as she drifted back to Kimmie and Thean, who looked on with glowing smiles. "It's about bloody time," Kimmie chuckled, grabbing Jasana and snuggling her, making her giggle. "It looks like your parents have finally decided to stop dancing around each other and face things, cub," she told her.
"Now we can be the family mama promised we could be," Jasana said with a bright smile. "You think I should go over there and get a hug too?"
"You'd best wait, kitten," Thean told her with a smile, patting her on the shoulder. "Give your parents a few moments to themselves. Then they'll be ready to give you all the hugs you want."
Kimmie looked at Thean. "Alright, that's four days, Thean," she said to him smugly. "I win."
"So you do," he laughed.
"Win what?" Jasana asked.
"The other Were-cats made a bet over how long it would take your parents to admit things," Kimmie winked at her. "I won."
"I should never bet against Kimmie when it comes to things like this," Thean said in a teasing voice at her.
"What did you win?" Jasnana asked curiously.
"Oh, nothing really, cub. Adults like to bet for betting's sake." She looked at Thean. "But I will expect a certain male to pay up when we get to Suld," she said in a commanding tone.
"Yes, Kimmie," Thean chuckled ruefully.
There would always be something quite magical about flying to him now.
Tarrin and the others hovered within the Elemental as it continued towards the west, now towards a setting sun, and he could see the ocean on the horizon. True to Kimmie's observation, the Elemental had been moving at such a speed that it got them to the coast in the span of a single day, and the large city of Suld was just barely discernable below. The Elemental had begun to decelerate and descend, but Tarrin had told it to slow even more, so that they would arrive under the safe cover of darkness.
Then again, the idea of returning to the ground seemed like a sad thing. Tarrin had spent the entire time wrapped up with his mate, and they did nothing but talk. Jesmind told him all about the many things she'd seen in her days, and though the presence of Thean and Kimmie kept her from getting too intimate with her recollections, she still managed to say a great deal that helped him fill in the voids of his knowledge about her. He learned that she loved violets, but hated daisies because their scent was repugnant to her. She adored seafood, and lobster in particular was her favorite. She was something of a connoissour of anything sweet, having quite a sweet tooth, willing to travel quite a distance to find someone that made something sweet. She absolutely adored music, and Tarrin was surprised to find out that she had developed a knack for taking the human form because she had been determined to learn how to play the lute when she was younger, and that required her to take the human shape to learn from the man who taught her without sending him into a panic. And also to allow her to play the lute without destroying it. A Were-cat's paws were incapable of playing such a delicate instrument. She didn't play music much anymore, for reasons that even she seemed to not quite understand, almost as if the magic of the music had escaped her over the long years. She liked to read, despite what her mother thought, but preferred stories of fiction and fantasy over what she called "the dusty old ravings of demented lunatics that passes for historical accountings." Jesmind had been alive during much of the time in which those books were written, and she told him that so much of it was so wrong that it made her laugh. Jesmind had an interest in cooking, something he had already realized, but she tended to concentrate on the things she liked rather than being capable of cooking many different kinds of dishes for other people. "Up to now, I only had to cook for myself," she had told him after telling him about that. "Why remember recipes I'll never cook?"
But she did remember those recipes. Talking to her, he realized that Jesmind was alot smarter than anyone, even Triana, seemed to realize. What made her so much different from Thean or Kimmie or Triana was that she didn't have the same burning desire to expand her education. She had a tremendous amount of common sense, and her ability to reason and see to point of the matter was considerable. Jesmind was a much more elemental personality than the intellectual Were-cats, more grounded in her instincts and her senses than the others. That wildness about her was what disguised her mind, made her so deceptively intelligent. She didn't seem so smart because she was still a rather base woman with simple tastes, simple desires, simple motivations, and simple pleasures. She spoke plainly, spoke her mind, and often her mind framed things in elegantly simple terms. She had a wonderfully polarized way of seeing things that boiled everything down to its most simple elements, and it was on that level that she dealt with things. Where others would try to see things in their totality, Jesmind broke them up into little pieces and sought to understand them bit by bit, then expand her mind out and consider the whole as a sum of the parts she had just examined. Jesmind's mind was a delight to him, and he found himself to be totally engaged by it.
It would almost feel like it would be over when they were on the ground again. Reality and its needs would reassert itself into their lives, and their day of revelation, of peace, of conversation, would be over. He could see that she felt the same way, leaning against him in their little bubble of isolation from the air and the world outside, as the ground got closer and closer as the sun seemed to dive behind the western sea, the Sea of Storms.
One thing was for certain. Jesmind had absolutely lost any anxiety or fear over flying.
"Do we have to land, beloved?" she complained, leaning her head against his. He held her from behind as they watched the lights of Suld begin to wink into being as lamps were lit on the streets and torches set on the walls. Tarrin got a little thrill out of her calling him beloved, so much so that he nearly missed her question.
"Unfortunately," he told her with obvious regret. "If anything, we'll have to land soon because the Elemental has used up most of the magic I granted it when I summoned it here. If we don't land soon, it's going to disappear, and we'll be landing the hard way." He could feel the strain it was starting to feel, from both carrying five passengers and moving at its top speed while doing so. Just like any living thing, having to exert itself in such a manner had caused it to expend the energy Tarrin granted it when it was intially summoned very quickly. What would have lasted at least a full day under other circumstances had barely managed to last twelve hours. "Carrying just me would be easy for it, but it's carrying five of us while moving as fast as it can, and it's starting to get tired."
"I didn't realize it got tired," Jesmind said with surprise. "I thought it was just a magical thing."
"It's alive, beloved, just as much as we are. I'm just lending it a body to interact with our world, that's all. Its strength comes from me. And trust me, I gave this Elemental a huge amount of energy when I summoned it. If any lesser Sorcerer had summoned it, it would have dissolved hours ago, considering the demands I've put on it."
"Listen to you," she teased. "Getting arrogant on me, beloved?"
"It's a fact, beloved," he chuckled. "I'm quite proud of it, actually. It's done a tremendous job getting us here so quickly. I'll have to find some way to thank it properly."
"Well then, considering the day it's given us, I'd say giving it anything it wants would be just about right," she purred, turning in his embrace and kissing him on the neck.
"It really likes you now, beloved," Tarrin laughed as the Elementals favor towards his mate became clear through the link he maintained with it.
"Why did it come like this?" Kimmie interrupted insightfully from where she and Thean were having their own little talk, showing Jasana things on the ground and explaining what they were. "I mean, it's not like it just decided to come serve you. It must get something for its trouble, or else it would never have agreed to do it."
"That, is a good question," he admitted, asking the Elemental the very same question. Its reply was eminently simple and practical. "It says that every time it's summoned to this world, it increases its power in the other world, where it comes from. That's what it gains in payment for serving us here, so it's not a one-sided relationship."
"Well then, you need to give it a little extra when it goes back," Jesmind sighed. "It deserves it."
"That it does, beloved," he agreed with a smile. "That it does." He chuckled. "I may have to start summoning my Elementals every day," he announced. "That way they get stronger where they are. I can't have my Elementals going around and getting bullied by the other Elementals, can I?"
"I'm sure they won't mind," Jesmind chuckled. "It's not like you're a bad person to work for, after all."
"Only a few would agree with you, beloved," Tarrin laughed. "Alright, the Elemental says that it'll be just after sunset by the time it puts us on the ground. I'm going to have it come straight down over the Tower and set us on the grounds, so don't anyone have a fit when the Elemental stops, then starts moving straight down."
"Thanks for the warning," Thean said sincerely.
They came to be directly over the city of Suld, and the Elemental stopped when Tarrin pointed out the Tower of Six Spires to it. Then it began to descend quickly, making them all feel a curious lightness in the belly, coming straight down as the city of Suld became more and more detailed to their eyes. Tarrin looked down and couldn't hide his elation. Down there, on those grounds, was almost every single person that Tarrin called family. His parents, his sisters, both blood and bond, his dearest friends, they were all there-except for Sarraya, of course. He had been separated from them for too long, and he almost couldn't stay still as they got closer and closer to the ground. In a very short time, he would see his sisters, his parents, and all his friends once again. Not just see them with spectral eyes, but be able to smell them, touch them, know beyond any doubt that they were with him once again. It had been too long.
Something was… wrong. Tarrin looked down and saw that there were many people milling about the grounds. He looked closer in the gloom of the coming night, as the set sun's last rays of light managed to illuminate the ground, and he realized that there were Knights and Vendari literally covering the entirety of the Tower grounds. There were also figures laying still out on the grass, in the gardens, even on the many bridges that spanned between the main Tower and the smaller towers that surrounded it. Fighting? There had been fighting in the Tower?
What was going on?
He looked more closely. The Knights and the Vendari had everything in hand, he could see that. They had vanquished whoever had managed to actually get onto the grounds, and they even had prisoners. Those prisoners wore no uniforms, only mismatched armor that made them look like mercenaries. How did they get past the fence?
The sense of the Tower brought him back to the present situation, and he realized that the Ward that had once kept him trapped inside was still up. Tarrin had the Elemental pause as Tarrin made contact with the Weave and took care of that little problem. He searched into the Ward's creation, and was impressed that the Ancients had made a Ward of such incredible size. He realized that they'd had to make certain sacrifices concerning its ability in order to have it cover so much area. Instead of making it stop everything, they'd been forced to make it a physical barrier, and that made it vulnerable. That made it capable of being woven so large without tearing it during its creation. He stopped dawdling and searched into the patterns of its weaves, and recognized the weave pattern that could cause it to lower without destroying its integrity. He triggered that programmed response, and caused the Ward to drop. Then he had the Elemental continue.
"What's going on down there?" Thean asked. "It looks like the Tower's Knights have been fighting. And doing it on the grounds themselves."
"You're right," Kimmie agreed, looking around under them. "How did they get past the fence?"
Tarrin realized immediately. "The spy," he growled. "The spy must have let them in."
"Well, judging that the Knights look barely scratched, they must have known they were coming," Thean surmised, studying the movements below them.
"We'll find out what's going on when we get down there," Tarrin told them, looking down. "It should just be a few more moments. Let's move along now, my friend," Tarrin called audibly. "It looks like we need to get down there quickly."
That turned out to be a poor choice of words. The Elemental suddenly plunged straight down, tearing a cry from Jesmind and Kimmie both as Tarrin grasped onto his mate and his daughter while frantically telling the Elemental to slow down before they all slammed into the ground. The Elemental didn't really listen to him, and for a moment he thought that the Knights were going to have to dig them out of the lawn. But then the Elemental simply pulled out of its headlong dive, leaving them all standing easily on the grass, well and whole.
" Don't do that!" Tarrin said breathlessly, holding his chest. That amused the Elemental, causing it to ask if it has further use for it; it was very tired, and it wished to return home, but if Tarrin needed it, it was willing to remain to render aid as necessary. "No, I think we can handle things. You deserve your rest. And thank you," he added as he mentally dismissed the Elemental, which would allow its animating force to return to from whence it came. The Elemental dissipated in a gust of cool wind, and then it was gone.
Tarrin looked around, and recognized one of the Knights that was quickly rushing towards them. "Ulger!" Tarrin called loudly, holding up a paw. "Ulger, it's Tarrin!"
Ulger looked out of breath. The tall Knight pulled up with three younger Knights, looking to be barely out of the Academy, then he pulled off his burgonet helmet and laughed as he sheathed his sword. "Tarrin! By Karas' hammer, boy, what happened to you!" he said, looking up at him as he approached.
"Long story," Tarrin replied, clasping Ulger's wrist firmly. "What in the furies is going on, Ulger?"
"Well, that's a long story too," Ulger said with a bright, slightly evil smile. "But the short of it is that we've swept all the infidels and traitors out of the Tower. That Wikuni queen is one wicked nasty plotter," he said with an evil laugh. "She set a trap for them, and they walked right into it. We swept this rabble out, and from what I've heard, the Wikuni and the Council has rounded up all the katzh-dashi not loyal to the Tower."
Tarrin laughed. "That sounds like Kerri, alright," he agreed. "Do you know where they are? I need to find her, and quickly."
"Not off the top of my head, but I know where Darvon is, and he'll know where the Wikuni is," he assured him. "Well now, this one I remember," he said, pointing at Jesmind. "But who are the others? And who is this adorable little girl?" he asked, giving Jasana a wink and a smile.
"Ulger, this is Kimmie and Thean," he said, motioning to them. "And this," he said, picking up Jasana, "is my daughter Jasana."
"Hullo," Jasana said warily, looking at the bearded Knight.
"Hey there, little cutie," Ulger said with a cheeky smile. "I knew your father when he was this big," he said, holding his hand up over his own head.
Tarrin gave the Knight a look, then he laughed. "Care to show us where Darvon is now?"
"Certainly. Come this way."
The Were-cats followed the four Knights through a lawn littered with bodies, and the vast majority of them were the opposition. They all showed ghastly wounds, from the Knights' favored broadswords and the variety of oversized, lethal weapons commonly carried by the Vendari. Tarrin had thought to hide Jasana's eyes from the carnage, but he reminded himself that she wasn't a human girl. This was part of life, and it was nothing a little hunter wouldn't see when she made her kills. "I see the reputation of the Knights is well deserved," Thean remarked, looking around. "It looks to have been a complete rout."
"About that," he replied. "They weren't very good fighters. Some of the Vendari are very sulky about not having enough of a fight to satsify them."
"They must have tried to catch you off guard," Kimmie remarked.
"They didn't know we were here," Ulger said, looking back at her with a grin. "They expected to overrun an undefended Tower. We're the last thing they expected to see, believe you me."
"That does sound like the Wikuni," Jesmind said, giving Tarrin a smile. "I remember her. The little mouse has more guts than a Were-cat."
"You don't mess with Kerri, that's for sure," Tarrin agreed with a chuckle. "Or my sister Allia. Both of them will make you pay for it."
Ulger led them into the Tower proper, into the entrance hall through which all visitors entered. Darvon was standing near the back of it with another Knight and two Vendari, and there were both Vendari and Knights dispersed through the hall either talking among themselves or keeping guard to defend the Tower from whatever might come through the doors. The Lord General of the Knights was an aged, nearly elderly man, but it could only be seen in his face, for he wore the same plate armor as all the other Knights, and he wore it with an ease that told anyone that beheld him that the old man was still a formidable force to be reckoned with. His hair had not fallen out over the years, giving him a bushy mass of white over his wrinkled face, with a white moustache and a little blood on his armor. Darvon had been right in the middle of it. "Lord General, look who decided to join us!" Ulger announced as he brought them up to him. Ulger seemed to have become much more jolly since the last time he'd seen him. "Only two years gone, at that!"
Tarrin handed Jasana off to Jesmind and remembered to bow to Darvon as the aged commander stepped up to them. "My Lord General," Tarrin said respectfully.
"Well now, I know quite a few that are going to be bouncing off the walls when they see you, my boy," Darvon grinned. "Am I really that old, or are you taller?" he asked, squinting at Tarrin.
That made Jesmind chuckle. "Do they all start with that, my mate?" she asked curiously.
"Usually," Tarrin said with a rueful look. "Yes, I'm taller, and it's a long story," he said brusquely. "What happened here, Lord General?"
"Well, the katzh-dashi got wind that someone in the Tower was a traitor," he began. "They found out that the traitor was planning to infiltrate the Tower with brigands to attack the katzh-dashi by surprise while the Knights remained split from the Tower. Well, Queen Keritanima came to me and explained what was going on, and convinced me to move the Knights back onto the grounds. In secret, of course," he grinned. "She brought some of her Vendari in as well, and then she managed to find out exactly what the traitor's plans were about attacking the Tower. We took the appropriate countermeasures while still managing to conceal ourselves. We stopped them, and from what I've been told, they've managed to capture the traitor and all her sycophants."
"Who?" he asked. "Who was the traitor?"
"They haven't told me yet," he replied. "But we're wasting time. I'll send a runner telling them that you're here, and we'll go up so you can see them."
"I'd really appreciate that, Darvon," Tarrin said sincerely.
"Fine. Page!" he called, and a young man wearing armor started trotting towards them.
But he didn't get far. The door beyond Darvon opened, and Tarrin saw a dark-haired petite form explode from the doorway. His sense of the Weave began to pull in the direction of that form, and he realized that it was Jenna. Only Jenna could cause that kind of an effect in the Weave. Just behind her, he saw his parents step into the entrance hall, and it took them only a moment to spot him among the Vendari. Tarrin opened his arms as Jenna appeared behind Darvon, and she literally jumped up into his embrace. Tarrin held his sister gently, spinning her around in a circle and laughing delightedly as she hugged him. He took in her scent, reveled in the sense of her presence, and it reinforced solidly to him the fact that he had finally come back to them. He held her back so he could get a good look at her; seeing her through the visage of the possessed Illusion simply didn't seem the same, and at that time he'd been a little too worried about her to really get a good look at her. She was fifteen now, growing tall and gaining a similar buxom, curvy figure as her mother. Jenna's youthful face was filling out, gaining a little bit of a sharp cast that actually made his little sister quite lovely. Jenna was going to break some hearts, of that he was certain.
Jesmind took a step back as Tarrin set Jenna down, then hugged his mother and father in turn, greeting them warmly. They both looked very well; the travelling seemed to have been good for them. His father had lost the slight pudginess about his middle, and his mother was sleeker than ever.
"It's so good to see you, my son!" Elke laughed as she hugged him. "Did you just get here?"
"Only just," he chuckled. "I should have known that Jenna would feel me coming."
"You can't hide from me, brother," Jenna teased, taking his paw and gripping it warmly.
Eron had been the first to see the whole picture. "I take it that this lovely little girl here is your daughter?" he asked mildly.
Tarrin looked back to Jesmind, who looked decidedly anxious, holding Jasana tightly. "Who told you?" he asked, then he chuckled and waved his paw at them absently. "Nevermind, stupid question," he laughed as Triana and Jula came in through the same door. "Mother, father, Jenna, I'd like you to meet my daughter, Jasana."
Jesmind set Jasana down, and the little girl padded over shyly to her grandparents and aunt, trying to hide behind Tarrin's leg. Tarrin reached down and scooted her in front of him, and she looked up at her father's parents, not exactly sure what to say. Elke Kael solved her problem by reaching down and picking her up boldly, nuzzling the little girl. "Well, it's good to finally see my granddaughter," she told her gently, in that nurturing manner that would set any child at ease. "I've waited a very long time to meet you, susa." Susa was an Ungardt term of affection used when addressing small children.
That seemed to put Jasana immediately at ease. She giggled and patted Elke on the shoulders, then held her arms out to Eron Kael as he took her from his wife. She giggled again when his father's beard tickled at her cheek as she hugged him. "Papa and mama talk about you all the time," she told them. "Papa loves you, and mama really thinks you two are good humans. She put all your stuff in the barn and keeps it clean for you when you come to get it."
"Yes, Triana told us that Jesmind moved into our house," Elke said, giving Jesmind a slightly flinty look.
Tarrin didn't see Jesmind's reaction, because Triana had reached him. He saw that he stood eye to eye with her now, and he embraced her warmly, greeting her with tremendous love and respect. Triana was his other mother, and he thought of her that way in his heart. "I see you finally made it, cub," she said, giving him an uncharacteristic smile. "Have any trouble?"
"Yes and no," he replied. "You look well. Soft living suits you."
"Bah," she snorted. "I'm going crazy in here." She looked towards Jesmind. "Well, don't just stand over there, cub, come here and give your mother a hug," she commanded. "And why are Kimmie and Thean standing way over there?" she said, looking where the two of them were talking to a Vendari. She hugged her daughter, then gave a shrill whistle that made every head in the entrance hall turn in her direction. Thean responded instantly to that whistle, breaking off from the Vendari and dragging Kimmie along with him.
"How did you get here so fast?" Eron asked curiously. "The last Kerri told us, you were in Torrian."
"We were," he replied. "I used a magical creature called an Elemental to get us here as quickly as possible."
"A what? Oh, teach me, teach me!" Jenna said excitedly.
"I will, I promise," he told her. "I'm going to teach you a whole lot of things while I'm here, Jenna. Now that we're finally together."
"I waited for you in the Heart day after day," she said accusingly, "but you never came!"
"I've been very busy, Jenna," he said defensively. "The Goddess should have told you that."
"She did, but it still doesn't excuse you," she said with a wicked little grin.
"Well then, I guess you don't need to learn anything from me," he said airily, waving a paw at her.
"Papa, that's mean," Jasana accused.
Kimmie and Thean joined them, and Tarrin waited while Triana gave Thean a hug and kiss that made it abundantly clear how she felt about him. It looked kind of strange to see a woman so much taller than her mate, but Thean didn't seem to mind all that much. "Kimmie, Thean, I'd like you to meet my family. This is Eron Kael, Elke Kael, and this is my sister, Jenna Kael."
"We've heard a great deal about you," Kimmie smiled, stepping up and taking Elke's hand. "From both Tarrin and Jesmind."
"Is that so?" Elke asked, looking at Jesmind directly as she did so.
Tarrin looked at Jula, who seemed to be completely lost and overwhelmed in the company surrounding him. She stood well at the edge of their group, and looked about ready to flee into the crowd at the first sign that anyone noticed her. Tarrin held out a single paw to her commandingly, and she bowed her head and obeyed him. He could literally smell Jesmind's sudden flash of jealousy as Jula put her paw in his obediently; she still remembered and considered him to be her bond-father, and her obedience to him was reflexive. "And this," he said, motioning towards Jula while looking at Kimmie and Thean, "is my bond-daughter, Jula."
"Well, it's nice to see that me and Tarrin aren't exactly unique," Kimmie said lightly, reaching out to the nervous Were-cat and taking her paw from Tarrin. "We have one more in our exclusive little club," she said with a wink. "I was turned too."
"Triana spoke about you alot," Jula said in a quiet voice, unable to look at Jesmind. Tarrin was certain that she could sense the hostility coming from his mate.
"Well now, you and I are going to have to talk," Thean told her gently. "It's almost impossible to get Tarrin to discuss Sorcery, and I've heard that you're quite an accomplished Sorcerer on your own. Maybe you can fill in the blanks that Tarrin left behind."
"I'd, I'd be happy to do that, Thean," she said quietly.
"Has she been much trouble, mother?" he asked.
"Not after I beat that rebellious streak out of her," Triana snorted. "She'll obey you immediately, but I had to teach her that I'm just as bad as you." Triana crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "But all in all, I'm pleased with her. She's come a long way, and I feel certain that Fae-da'Nar will accept her."
"That's all that matters," he nodded, putting his paw on Jula's shoulder. "Now that I'm back, I'll take her back from you. She's still my daughter."
"You don't exclusively own her anymore," Triana said with light eyes. "She's both yours and mine now. And if you ever need someone to babysit her while you're busy, don't hesitate to ask me. I've actually grown a bit fond of her."
"Triana!" Jula said indignantly. "I'm not a baby!"
"Yes, you are," Triana told her flatly. "Until Fae-da'Nar comes here and judges you, you are very much a child, and you'll be accompanied by an adult. You forget the grave risk you pose to Tarrin. Anything you do won't be held against you, it will be held against him ."
"Yes, Triana," Jula sighed. "I remember."
"Good," she snorted. "I'm glad you remember something."
"Triana!" Jula said plaintively.
"Alright then," he said, turning Jula so she had to look Jesmind face to face. "Jula, this is my mate, Jesmind, and over there being tickle-tortured by my father's beard is my daughter, Jasana. Jesmind, this is Jula."
"You forget, my mate, we've already met," Jesmind said with an edge in her voice, looking down at the smaller female.
"Not formally," Tarrin told her. "And you'd better get used to her, Jesmind. She's my daughter."
The way he said it seemed to smack the hostility out of her. She relaxed visibly, and then offered her paw to Jula. "I'm sorry," she said contritely. "But if you didn't notice, females get defensive about mates. Tarrin's the kind of male you don't let slip away."
"It's alright," Jula said, a bit more confidently. "Triana explained everything about that to me. I understand it."
"You should thank her, cub," Triana said. "She's the one that found the traitor, about a step ahead of that Demon."
"Really? Jula, that's great." Tarrin told her gently. "I'm proud of you for that."
"I'm sorry it took so long," she apologized.
"It's not how long it takes, it's whether you succeed," he told her. He looked up at Triana. "Who was it?"
"Some woman named Amelyn," Triana replied. "Right now, your Wikuni sister, the Keeper, and that Demon are down in the dungeons interrogating her with that icy-eyed redhead, Ahiriya."
Amelyn! Of course! She was the Mind Seat, and she was a member of the Council! They'd told him that it would have to be someone in power, or possible someone with formidable grasp of mind weaves. It only made sense that it was both. Tarrin had never liked Amelyn, she was arrogant and annoying, and in a way he was glad that it turned out to be someone he didn't like. Tarrin realized that Amelyn was going to be in for a very rough time of it. The entire Tower feared Ahiriya, and nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of one of her interrogations. And if she wasn't bad enough, Shiika was a Demoness, and was capable of all sorts of awful things. She was getting what she deserved, though.
Eron set Jasana down, and she padded over and grabbed Jula by the tail. Jula looked behind her in surprise, and found Tarrin's daughter looking up at her. "Are you my sister?" she asked curiously.
"Something like that, little one," Jula replied gently.
"I never had a sister before."
"Neither have I."
Jenna took Jasana's other paw and smiled at her. "I've never had a niece before," she told the little girl. "I think Aunt Jenna makes me sound like an old lady."
"Watch your mouth!" Elke snapped at her daughter.
"Don't mind your grandmother. She's feeling old today," Jenna winked.
"Jenna, I'm going to show you how young I still am in just a moment," she said threateningly to her daughter.
Jasana giggled, and held her arms out to Jenna. Jenna picked her up, bouncing her on her hip. "Mind your claws now," Jenna reminded her as the little girl's claws dug into her shoulders a little.
"She feels like you do, papa," Jasana told him. "She feels like lots of magic, just like you."
"She's alot like me, cub," Tarrin told her. "When I teach her about magic, you're going to be there with her."
"I think we should find somewhere less noisy," Thean suggested. "They can send out messages to all of Tarrin's friends, so they can come to him instead of him trying to track all of them down."
"That's a good idea," Triana agreed. "Come on, there's an apartment on the fifth floor big enough for alot of people. I think it's one of those apartments they let the important people use. Tarrin can just stay there while he's here."
"The Keeper may not like you handing out rooms, Triana," Jula reminded her.
"So?"
"It's going to be hard to get messengers. The Novices and Initiates are being held in their rooms until the Knights declare the Tower clear."
"There are servants enough in the Tower to find people to run messages," Triana said dismissively. "Come along, everyone. I know the way."
Tarrin turned with the others to follow Triana, but a disembodied voice floated through the hall, ignored by all there. I need to speak to you, it called. Tarrin had heard that voice before, and it caused his ears to pick up and turn in the direction from which it came. To his surprise, Jenna and Jasana also turned in that direction, Jasana's ears scanning the back corner of the hall.
He knew who it was, and he still had not figured out how she did that. He was surprised that she was at the Tower; given who she was and what she was, she could rock the foundations of the Tower by her mere presence. After all, she was an Ancient, and she could easily answer every question about the past of their order that the modern katzh-dashi had.
"What was that, Tarrin?" Jenna asked curiously. "It was like a voice inside the Weave."
"Something like that," he said, turning to the others. "I know you're going to object, but save it. I just got summoned by someone you do not ignore. I have to go see what the summoner wants. I'll come find you as soon as I'm done, alright?"
"Summoned by who?" Jesmind asked.
"I can't tell you that, my mate. Not even you," he said seriously. "Don't worry, the someone is something of an ally. I'm not in any danger."
Jesmind looked speculative, but then finally nodded. "Go with your mother, cub," Tarrin told Jasana as he turned back towards the door leading out. He had no doubt that she would guide him to her, because he knew that there was no way he was going to find her by himself. She had done it once before, guided him to her in the desert, where she provoked him into leaving behind the powers of a Sorcerer and gaining the powers of a Weavespinner.
Bring your sister, the voice instructed. She needs to be here.
Tarrin stopped immediately. "Jenna," he called, waving his paw at her. "You're coming."
Elke and Eron seemed about ready to object, but a paw on each shoulder from Triana quelled it. "A-Alright, Tarrin," Jenna said uncertainly, stepping up to him, and then following him back down the hall and outside.
"Who is doing that?" Jenna asked immediately after they cleared the hall. Tarrin got a sense of the location of her when he came out the door, and he realized she was in the gardens. He realized instantly that that meant that she was in the courtyard.
Actually, it made sense for her to be there.
"I'm sure you're going to tell me I'm lying if I told you, Jenna," Tarrin chuckled as he started off towards the garden.
"Try me."
"Alright. Remember all the old stories about the Guardian?"
Jenna nodded, then she gasped. "You mean they're true?" she asked.
"I'm not sure, but Spyder is very real," he told her calmly. "She's who you heard. I've met her once before, in the desert."
"What does she want?"
"I don't know, but I'm not about to disobey," he said emphatically. "Her orders are as good as the Goddess' own orders."
"I can't argue with that," Jenna agreed. "I wonder why she wants to see us."
"We'll find out," he told her.
They reached the garden relatively quickly, and then he entered the maze. "She's in here?" Jenna asked curiously.
"Everything about everything is in here, Jenna," he told her. "We're about to go see the Goddess in person. After a fashion, anyway."
"Huh?"
As they moved through the maze, Tarrin told Jenna about the courtyard, and told her about how they used it as a sanctuary when he was a student at the Tower. He went on to explain about the fountain and the statue, and told her how the statue was the Goddess' icon, her physical represenation in the mortal world. "Everything that's going on is about that, sister," Tarrin explained. "The armies coming to attack Suld aren't coming to burn down the city. They're coming to try to destroy the Goddess' icon. If they succeed, it'll destroy the katzh-dashi, kill any Sorcerer with even moderate power, and give our enemies a clear path to the Firestaff."
"Wow," Jenna whispered after a moment of silence. "I didn't know that."
"Only a few people do," he told her. "And it has to stay that way. Do you understand?"
"I can keep a secret, Tarrin," she said confidently, then her brow furrowed. "If Amelyn was helping them, why in the world did she do it? Doesn't she realize that what they're going to do is going to kill her too?"
"You'll have to ask Amelyn that," Tarrin grunted.
It had been years since he'd been in the maze, but the pathway was still burned into his memory. He unerringly led Jenna to the overgrown pathway that hid the entrance to the courtyard, and then they stepped into the presence of the Goddess.
The place looked exactly as they'd left it, with a few exceptions. The tent to one side that had served as a sanctuary, library, and second home to Tarrin, Allia, and Keritanima sat encased within a strange dome of what looked like glass. But everything else was the same. The rose bushes and benches surrounding the large fountain that bubbled its merry song of rushing water, a sound that induced peace in everyone who heard it, the stone path and circle that surrounded the fountain with its neat, orderly white blocks of stone. The statue of the Goddess stood at the center of the fountain, on its pedestal, its expression one of gentle benediction. And standing before the fountain, facing them, was what looked like to be a cloak of shadows, hovering in the air almost of its own volition, the wearer within completely concealed.
Jenna paused to look at the fountain. "It's lovely," she whispered.
" That, Jenna, is the Goddess' icon. You're as good as looking at her right now." He nodded to the figure in the cloak. "And that, my sister, is Spyder."
The figure reached up and pulled down the hood, and the haunting features of Spyder were revealed. She looked as he remembered, vaguely similar to Allia with the high cheeks and sharp chin, the scar on her left cheek, those eyes that reflected eternity within them. She stepped forward, then to his surprise, she reached out and took Jenna's hands in her long-fingered ones and smiled at her. "So it begins again," she said in that strange voice of hers, each word pronounced with utter perfection before moving on to the next.
"Uh, hello," Jenna said with a nervous bow.
"Such acts, they are not necessary," she smiled. "I called you here to meet you, Jenna Kael. You and I, we are going to be seeing much of one another in the coming days."
"What are you talking about?" Tarrin asked curiously.
She looked at him, slightly disapproving. "You of all, you should understand the great responsibility that comes with the power you possess. Mother has sent me here to train both of you, so what happened at Torrian does not happen again."
"T-Train us?" Tarrin asked, completely overwhelmed.
"You have no finesse, no touch," she complained, looking at him. "You are a hammer used to break an eggshell. I thought you would learn much more by now, given how easily you hear the whispers of the Weave." Tarrin flushed guiltily and lowered his eyes. "My arts are unknown to the katzh-dashi," she said in a tone that made it clear that she considered them to be little more than swaddling babes. "They cannot help you learn what you need to learn. And since we serve the same mistress, it is of no business among the other gods if I grant to you my experience and learning." She looked at both of them in turn, seeing that they were both too surprised to say anything to her. That made her smile, a smile that made her seem much less intimidating. "I am not some musty old god standing before you," she teased. "I am a person, just as you. You may think me unique, but are we not all unique in our own way?"
"You're not exactly your normal person," Tarrin accused.
"Are you?" she asked pointedly. "Face it, younglings. People such as we cannot find understanding among others that lack our gifts. You will find yourselves speaking more and more to one another, if only because the other can understand you and your art. The others, they will not understand. At least not now. In time, with the return of the old powers, they will. But for now, they will not."
"That's all you wanted to say to us?"
"Is it not important?" she asked.
"Well, yes, but it could have waited," he accused. "I just got back. I haven't even seen some of my family yet."
"That is the other reason we are here," she said. She motioned towards the dome. "This place is holy, as you know. This is where you will use the Book of Ages. Out of respect for our mother, you should not reveal this place."
"I didn't plan on it," he replied. "The only ones I was going to have come here to help were Kerri, Allia, Miranda, and Dar. They've all been here already, and they've kept it a secret."
"You choose well," Spyder nodded. "But for now, they cannot know about me, or what we do. You must keep me as secret from them as you kept this courtyard from others."
"That seems a bit harsh," he complained.
"Think about it. If the Wikuni knew, she would intrude herself upon your training. Unable to comprehend what I teach, it would make her cause harm to herself. You understand her. She cannot abide being unable to do something. And should you tell Allia, she would tell the Wikuni. Allia keeps nothing from either of you. It is not in her nature."
Tarrin couldn't argue with that. He nodded in agreement. "They would do those things," he admitted. "Alright, we'll keep it secret. I don't like it, but we'll do it. I feel like I'm betraying my sisters' trust."
"Part of the reason I called you here now is because you have not seen your sisters yet. You will be very hard to separate from them after you reunite, and being called away would have arisen suspicion in them. But do not fear. Hiding this from them must only last until we are done. When I am finished teaching you, you are free to tell them about it."
"That's something, at least," Tarrin grunted. "When do you want to meet for the first lesson? I'm sure you didn't intend to start now."
"I will call you," she smiled. "As I called you here. But our lessons will not take place here. I suspect that this courtyard will become crowded very soon."
"How do you do that?" he demanded.
"It is but one of the many things I will teach you," she assured him. "When I am through with you, you will be proper Sorcerers. I would not be embarassed to admit that you belong to my order."
"I can't believe this is happening," Jenna finally said. "I'm going to be taught magic by an ancient!"
"It is impolite to remark about a lady's age," Spyder told her with a faint smile.
Jenna blushed furiously. "I didn't mean-I meant-It's what we call-"
"Calmly, child," Spyder actually laughed. "I understand that that is how the modern katzh-dashi refers to those of my time." She put a hand on Jenna's shoulder. "For too long, alone have I been entrusted with the secrets of our order, the memory of what we were. Now, it is time for those secrets to be returned to the world. And it is through you, my sister, that those secrets will become a part of the world once again. It is a great responsibility I set before you, child. Do you feel you are ready for this burden?"
" Me? You mean it's my job to teach the others about Weavespinners?"
"You," she smiled. "Tarrin's tasks will not allow him to be the teacher that our less enlightened brethren require. It will be you, my sister, who will be the new guiding light to return our order to what it once was. It will be a difficult task, one that will consume much of your life. But it is a task suited for you. Will you accept it?"
Jenna stared up at Spyder in absolute awe. "Uh, yes, I guess," she finally said. "I'll do whatever the Goddess needs me to do."
"Then that is all you ever need to do," Spyder said with a gentle smile, patting her shoulder fondly. "When I have taught you what you need to know, I will leave, and it will fall upon you to teach our poorer brothers and sisters about the glory of the Goddess and the true power of the Weave."
"Why not you?" Tarrin asked curiously.
"I have my own tasks, as do you," she said dismissively. "It is not my burden. It would not be a burden I would be suited to accept. Too old, I am, to suffer the trials of training the inept. Our sister here has much more patience and a more gentle demeanor than either of us, Tarrin. For the task ahead, she is the most suited." She smiled at Jenna. "I think that the order will be placed in good hands, my sister," she said reassuringly.
Jenna glowed under the compliment.
"And too long have I kept you from family and friends, Tarrin," she announced. "Our business for tonight is concluded. Listen for me, and when I call, come to me. And then you will learn the true extensions of the power of Sorcery, and you will become true sui'kun. I will be waiting until next we meet."
She took a step back, lifted the cowl of her cloak over her head, and then she simply disappeared.
Tarrin blinked as the traces of her scent evaporated like smoke. Where did she go? He'd felt nothing, no weaving, no power, absolutely nothing that would explain her obviously magical, dramatic exit. How in the furies did she do that?
Jenna suddenly laughed. "Well, I always knew that your coming back was going to be eventful," she told him.
Tarrin couldn't help but find that funny. "Come on, let's go find the others before Jesmind and Triana come looking for us. We can come back tomorrow, and I'll let you look around all you want."
"How are we going to find them?" Jenna asked curiously as they turned around and started out.
Tarrin touched his nose with a finger. "I'll take care of it," he chuckled.
"I keep forgetting about that," Jenna said as they slipped back into the overgrowth that concealed the entrance to the courtyard. "I really want to look around in there, Tarrin. It feels so, peaceful."
"You will, trust me," he assured as the brush stopped rustling, and the courtyard fell silent once again.
To: Title EoF